Transport of balls by oil



Jan. 5, 1965 H. E. LINDEN ETAL 3,164,541

I TRANSPORT OF BALLS BY OIL. FiledAug. e, 1960 2 sheets-snee: 1

IN VEN TOR' #6255er E. mae/v THe/was D. Na/EMS "LZ/Mw i rar/M .5

Jan. 5, 1965 H. E. LINDEN ETAL TRANSPORT oF BALLS BY on.

sheets-sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8. 1960 ANN Patented Jan. 5, 1965 3,164,541 'IRANSPRT 0F BALLS BY GEL Herbert E. Linden, Beverly Hills, Calif., and Thomas D. Nevens, Denver, Colo., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to The @il Shale Corporation, Beverly Hills, Caiif., a corporation of Nevada Filed Aug. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 43,1152 17 Claims. (Cl. 29d-l) This invention relates generally to processes for transporting solid bodies between various points in processing equipment, and in particular, relates to a method for conveying heat-carrying solid bodies in plants for treating solid oil-bearing materials such as oil shale, tar sands, and the like, to produce oil from these materials.

In processes for treating oil shale, tar sands, and the like, to produce oil from these solid materials, it has been found extremely advantageous to employ discrete solid bodies, made of a durable heat-resistant material such asV alumina, steel, or iron as the primary means for heating the oil shale and the like for pyrolysis, and for subsequent cracking and coking of the oil produced from the pyrolysis. solid heat-carrying bodies may be mentioned their grinding action on the solid oil-bearing material being processed, their greater heat capacity per volume and the greater control of temperature occasioned by the use of the solid bodies las opposed to gaseous means of heat transfer.

In transporting these solid bodies, which are preferably generally spherical and will be termed hereinafter as balls, from point to point in the plant equipment, dii-liculties are encountered. Thus, in using the common and conventional bucket elevator, a substantial amount of power is required to operate such an elevator and the balls may get stuck or jammed Within its many moving parts. Furthermore, the initial cost of such an elevator, and its maintenance, are high.

Another mode of conveying these balls frompoint to point is by a pneumatic means, such as by pumping air through suitable piping in which the balls are forced. These balls may range in size from 3%" toas small as 3/8 in diameter, and are blown quite rapidly through the various pipes leading from point to point in the processing equipment. Because of the rapid movement of the balls within the piping, there is a substantial tendency for shattering of the balls,- especially as they make various necessary turns in the piping.

Bearing in mind the following `facts, it is a major object of this invention to provide a method and means for transporting balls by means ofa device which utilizes practically no moving parts and which has an inherent self-cushioning action to prevent breaking of the balls.

It is another major object of the present invention to provide a novel method and means for transporting balls in a plant for producing "oil from oil-bearing carboncontaining material such as oil shale, tar sands, .and the like, the balls being used as the primary means for pyrolyzing the carbon-containing material, the transporting means utilizing practically no moving parts and incorporating a self-cushioning action to prevent shattering of the balls in their movement through the` plant.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a means for transporting balls by hydraulic 4means Among the chief advantages of the use of I in plant and processing equipment for oil shale and the like.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved method and means for processing oil shale and the like wherein the oil produced in the pyrolysis of the oil shale and the like, or any other high heat-treating oil, is used as the hydraulic means for transporting solid bodies in the processing.

In the past, in order to produce a low temperature pumpable oil from oil shale and the like, it has been found preferable to crack or coke the oil produced during pyrolysis. Prior processes, with which we are familiar, for producing low temperature pumpable oil require a separate Coker through which the heavy oil produced during the pyrolysis iis passed. Since a Coker of a given size has a given capacity, it would be extremely advantageous to provide a method and means for effectively increasing the amount of low temperature pumpable oil capable of being produced without increasing the size of the coking apparatus. It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic means for conveying solid bodies used to heat oil shale and the like to pyrolyzing temperaturesjwhich hydraulic means also functions as a coking means to reduce the load on the coker to a substantial extent, and in some cases to eliminate the need for a coker entirely.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more clearly understood `by referring to the followingdescription, and to theaccompanying drawings, in which: g

FIGURE 1 is a schematic flow sheet of a preferred process for the treatment of oil shale employing our invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a schematic flow sheet of a modified form of our preferred process for the treatment of oil shale.

In general, our invention utilizes an oil for conveying solid bodies from point to point in a process. Thus, balls used in the process for pyrolyzing oil shale are generally l quite hot, having a temperature somewhere between 500 F. to 1050 F., depending upon the point inthe process at which the temperature measurement is taken. These hot balls are fed, usually by gravity, into an elevator conduit in which ian appropriate oil such as, for example,

cycled to the pipeline throughV the oil pump,.or discharged from the system. If oil obtained from the pyrolysis of the oil shale is used tas the transporting hydraulic medium, this oil may be coked to varying degrees.

In the yFIGURE V1 embodiment, a plant and process are shown for first preheating oil shale and then p'yrolyzing the preheated shale to `produce oil vapor andgases by means of hotter solid bodies. While a plant and process for treating oil shale are here shown, any oil-'bearing solid can =be treated provided it is distillable, i.e., one whose oil can be driven off as a vapor by mere heating, or one in which oil can be obtained upon decomposition or ,pyrolysisV of the solid lin question, again `by heatheated yoil shale.

solid carbonaceous residue after distillati-on, which can be used as fuel. The distilled oil vapors are cooled to produce partial condensation, resulting in a condensation of the heavy `oil components. `The heavy oil is then used as the hydraulic transporting medium for `solid bodies used as the heat-carrying medium. It is, Iof course, entirely possible to utilize the middle fraction, or any other fraction `of oil as the hydraulic transport medium.

Some coking of the transporting oil will occur in the plant and process of FIGURE l, the exact amount depending mainly upon the temperature of the balls and the residence time within the hydraulicconveyor.

Referring now in detail to FIGURE l,V cold raw oil shale is fed from the hopper into a shale preheat zone or simply preheater v12, via conduit '14. The preheater preferably comprises a rotatable drum :and has an inlet port for entry of hot generally spherical solid bodies or balls entering via line'l. `These balls are made of a durable, high heat-resistant material, .such as alumina, steel, or iron. The hot balls and the cold oil shale are intimately intermixed in the rotating drum l2.

The amountl of heat transferred to the cold oil shale is sufficient to heat it to aV temperature of preferably 'about 500 F. but not greater than 600 F. At a temperature above 600 1F. the oil shale tends to become gurnrny and presents problems `of handling.

The `size of the balls entering the preheater l2 preferably averages about 1/2,`although the average ball size can be as small `as or as' high as 1". The oil shale entering the preheater 12 Vis first coarsely ground to an average mesh size equal to or slightly smaller than the inlet ball size, and the oil shale is furthe-r ground in the shale preheater due to the grinding and crushing actionof the balls. The outlet oil shale is thus of asubstantially lower mesh size than the balls.

The combined rball and oil shale stream leavesvthe preheater i2 via -line 1S. The oil shale is separated from the balls by means of a-.screen 20 of a mesh size sutilciently large .to allow the'foil shale to drop into the funnel means Z2 and thence into the conduit 24.

The balls, cooled substantially in the preheater il?. to a temperature of between about 500 F. to about 650 F., are `sent to a ball heater Z6 where `they are reheated to temperatures of approximately 1200 F. to 15,00o F. and fed to a pyrolysis zone 23 for pyrolysis of the pre- The means for providing heat for the treating of the balls will be describdin more detail hereinafter.

The preheated oil shale `then enters a preferably rotating pyrolysis zone or drum 23 via line 2,4 and yis intimately contacted with hot heat-carrying balls entering the pyrolysis drum from the hall heater 26, Vvia line 30. The gaseous products of the pyrolysis leave the pyrolysis drum 28 via the line 32 and, yin the Ypresently disclosed embodiment, pass to a partial condenser or cooler 34, maintained at a temperature of between preferably 500 tof/50 F. The cooler 34 thusco-ndenses the heavier oils which leave the cooler via fthe bottoms line 36 while the light oil vapors, which are not condensed, leave the cooler 34 viathe overhead line 38.

Separation of the oil vapor and gas stream into a heavy and light :oil component is preferred at this point 'for the following reasons. Some coking will take place in the hydraulic elevator means to be described, and some coking gas-Will be produced and yoil consequently vlost from the process. 'The amount Iof coking gas produced is minimized, however, if .only heavy oil is used as the hydraulic conveyor fluid. Further, the looking of light oils leads tothe production of Isubstantially more gas per unit of 4oil coked,'but does not contributeappre-Y yciably to the lowering of temperature Aat which the iinal oil product can be pumped. Thus, by separating out the heavy oil, and coking this, the greatest pumpability at low temperatures can be attained ywhile a minimum amount of oil is lost as Coker gas. Of course, in some instances it may be `desirable to omit the partial condensation step, and condense all the effluent, although this is not preferred.

The solid product of the pyrolysis, carbonaceous oil shale residue (hereinafter sometimes termed shale y coke), leaves the pyrolysis drum and flows by gravity downwardly, via line 40, along with the solid heat-carry- .ing balls, until the inclined screen means 42 is reached. The mesh .size of the screen 42 is crnaller than the average mesh size of the balls but larger than the average mesh size of the shale coke, and a separation `of the two solid streams of material thereby occurs. The shale coke is therebyfed into the enlarged portion of line 44. The shale coke flows, mainly by gravity, along the remainder of the line i4 into a combustion zone 46, and is combusted, as will be described hereinafter.

The heavy oil, at a temperature of between about 500- 750 F., enters the line 50, flows downwardly to the pump 52 and is thence pumped upwardly in a transport zone or elevator conduit 54. The balls, separated from the shale coke, flow downwardly in line 40 at a temperature of between about 850 to l050 F., to a lock shown schematically and designated by the numeral 55.

The lock 55 is pivotally mounted about its center 55a andrcomprises two gate valves 55]) and 55e, pivotally mounted about the center 55a and arranged so that one of the valves always seals off line 40. As gate valve 55e is closed, balls collect just above it, and as gate valve 55]) is lowered to close off line 40, valve 55e lifts, permitting the balls below valve SSb to move into line 54. rThe balls are then transported upwardly by the upwardly moving oil. Because of the Contact of the hot oil with the hot balls, cracking of the oil takes place as the balls and oil move upwardly. Cracked oil vapor and gas,l thus produced, leave the line Y54 via the overhead line 56.

Because of the coking taking place in line 54, there will be some gas formation in this line. The presence of some gas in line 54 flowing upwardly with the oil, however, does not change the essential characteristic of the flow medium, which is predominantly that of a hydraulic fluid.

The cracking of the heavy oil by means of the balls in the transport zone 54 is highly advantageous inasmuch as the coked oil product is pumpable (to refineries) at a much lower `emperature than would otherwise be possible.

As the balls are transportedaround the upper corner of the elevator line 54, the heavy shale oil in the pipeline 54 prevents the balls from limpinging against the walls of the line 54 with any force. It will thus be seen that the oil within the conveyor 54 provides a self-cushioning action preventing shattering of the balls as they move around the corner of the line 54. Conveying'the balls by gas, lsuch as air, doesnot have this advantage, and shattering of the balls can and will quite readily occur as in a pipeline, and especially as the balls round corners in the piping.

The oils and 'balls Vin line 54 are separated by suitable means, such as by screening means 60 set into line 54.1 after the peak oftravel of the balls has been reached. The mesh size of the screen 60 is such as to prevent the balls from passing therethrough while, of course, allowing the liquid oil to drop therethrough intoV the line 62 having an enlarged tanlolike entrance or reservoir 64.

A film of oil may remain on the balls as they ilow, by gravity, past the screening means 60 and into enlarged inclined `line 16. A levely of balls is maintained in line 16,V by suitable control means (not shown) providing a gas seal. The balls pass through line 16 and thence flow into shale preheater l2 for preheating the fresh oil shale. However, because `of the intimate admixture of the balls with the oil shale in the shale preheater 12, it has been found that there is a transfer of the oil on the balls to the oil shale itself. The oil shale has a verysubstantially greater surface area that thatof the balls, which accounts for the transfer of the oil to the oil shale as the oil shale drum.

It will thus be seen that the film of oil carried by the balls in to the shale preheater drum 12 is not lost from the process, but is recoverable in the pyrolysis drum 28, since it is carried into this drum with the preheated shale. This oil is then passed out as vapor along with the other oil vapors and gases resulting from the pyrolysis of the fresh oil shale. Indeed, a considerable amount of addiv tional coking of this oil occurs in the pyrolysis drum, which is also advantageous.

Oil is maintained within reservoir 64, to form a gas seal and prevent gases from entering line 62. The oil passing into the line 62 may be recycled into conveyor line 54 via recycle leg 64, and a further coking of the oil will then occur. The amount of oil recycling is controlled by valve 70, controlling the flow through the recycle leg 64. The coked oil that is not to be recycled is then discharged from the processing system, via line 68. 4

In the practice of our inventionwe` provide beds of balls, oil shale and shale coke acting as gas seals to prevent any leakage of oil vapors resulting from the pyrolysis. To this end, a bed of oil shale in line 24 is maintained at a high level by suitable control means (not shown); the balls in the inlet line 30 are maintained at a high level by suitable control means (not shown); the outlet line 40 is sealed off by valve S anda bed of shale coke is also maintained at a high level, at the mouth of line 44, so

that it too will act as a seal to prevent any vapors from escaping through line 44. It will thus be seen that all the lines entering and leaving the pyrolysis drum 2S, with the exception of vapor outlet line 32, are sealedby solid material used in the process. Y

To assure drainage of the oil from theballs as they pass downwardly by gravity in the line 54, the screening means 60 may be adapted to be agitated so as to achieve a maximum drainage of oil from the balls.

The use of shale oil as the hydraulic conveying liu-id is preferred over other hydraulic fluids mainly because of its availability in :the.process,and because the cokingV that does` take place is generally advantageous. v,

i The balls `after having passed'through preheater 12 are -at a temperature of about SOO-600 F. They are then sent to the ball heating Zone 26 as described previously, and heated in the following manner.

The shale cokeV enters the combustion zone 46, from line 44, and is preferably fluidized therein by a-ir entering via line 38. The shale coke is then combustedin the combustion zone 46.- The products of combustion are not only the hot gases of combustion but entrained shale ash lines as well. These products of combustion enter fthe ball heater 26 via line 90 and heat the balls entering .the ball heater to 1200 F. to 1600" F., as previously mentioned. The coarse shale ash that is not entr-ained will be discharged from the bottom of the combustion zone through a line 47, controlled by a valve 49( Exhaust gases and shale ash leave .the ball heater via the line 92 at a temperature of 500 to 650 F., the gases being separated from the ash by the cyclone 94. The eX- Ahaust gas still has some heat left in it and may be used for some heat exchange purposes. The ash can be sent to storage, and used in the manufacture of cement, or asa paving aggregate, or in other ways. Y i

While we have described Athe hydraulic transporting of solid heat-carrying bodies by means of shale oil produced in the process, and while this mode ofioperation is preferred, any other oil, especially those of high boiling point,may also be used as thehydraulic conveying tluid. It will be recognized that when such other oil is used,.the part that evaporates or is ooked or passes over with the balls to theshale preheater is not lost butlis all recovered in Vits original form or another valuable form.

When an oil other than theshale oil is used as the hydraulic conveying iiuid, the plant of FGURE l may be modiied as follows: the heavy oil line 56 may be connd balls are intimately admixed in the shale preheater i 6 nected directly to a suitable coker rather than being sent directly to the recycle line 50. Also, line 50 is connected directly to -an inlet line for the conveying oil, this oil being then pumped into the transport pipeline 54 and contacting the balls entering the line 54 from line 40, as previously described. The oil and balls are Iseparated, as

described with reference to FlGURE 1, and the oil may be recycled to line 50 for further use, or fresh oil may be used.

In some cases, it is not necessary that an oil shale preheater be employed in the process for producing oil from oil shale. The shale preheater 12 is then eliminated from the plant and the fresh oil shale fed directly into the pyrolysis drum 28. The balls from 'transport zone or line S lthen pass directly to the ball heater 26 rather than iirst passing through the shale preheater 12.

Since, in this simplified plant, the balls do carry a film of oil and are sent directly to the ball heater 26, this oil will be combusted rather than being sent to the pyrOlysis drum and recovered as oil, as described with reference to the FIGURE l embodiment. However, the combustion of the oil provides additional heat which may be transferred directly to the balls and thus While there is a loss of oil from the process, it is recovered in the form of heat energy.

As mentioned, the conveyor line 54 in the FIGURE l embodiment elevates the balls which have left the pyrolysis drum at a temperature of 850-l050 F., and coldng will inherently take place because of the high temperature of the balls contacting the hydraulic oil. In some instances, it may be desirable to prevent any coking of the hydraulic fluid, e.g. shale oil or the like. To this end, in -a process for producingoil from oil shale, the conveyor elevator for the ballsjcan be arranged -so thatsubstantially all the coking of the hydraulic Huid can be avoided'. This is accomplished by hydraulically elevating lower-:temperatured balls, leaving the shale preheater 12, to a ball heater rather than conveying the higher-temperatured balls, leaving the pyrolysis drum '28 as in FIG- URE l. FIGURE 2 isla `schematic low sheet of a process wherein lower-temperatured balls leavingv the shale preheater are hydraulically conveyed in a hydraulic conveyor line so 'that little, if any, coking, of the hydraulic fluid occurs.

Referring now specilieally lto FIGURE 2, cold oil shale enters the preheater 100 from the hopper 102 via the i11- let conduit 104i. The cold oil she is intimately intermiXed in the preheater 100 with balls entering the preheater frorn the pyrolysis zone 106 along the line 108. Both the preheater and the pyrolysis zones preferably comprise rotatable drums.

The balls, at a temperature of 550-700 F., and prei heated oil shale, at a temperature of between 500 F. to

elevator means such as a screw elevator or a bucket-type elevator into a closed' hopper 116.

, The preheated oil shale enters the pyrolysis zone 106 from the closed hopper 116 and is intermixed with hot balls entering the pyrolysis drum from the ball heater 26. The ball heating means including the combustion chamber 46, the cyclone 94 and the ball heater 26, as well as the exhaust gas line 92, and the various other lines, are identical with that shown in FIGURE l, and therefore need not again be described. i

The cooled balls move from the preheater into inclined conduit 118 and fall downwardly, by gravity, into line 118 impinging upon the lock device 155, identical with lock 55 of FGURE l. The balls lare thus controllably fed into the hydraulic elevator or transport zone 154, which is substantially the same as transport pipeline 54 described in FlGURE l.

The oil vapor and gas products of pyrolysis leave phenyl ether oils.

the pyrolysis drum 106 along the line 132 and are sent to a cooler similar to that described with reference to FIGURE 1, the cooler being designated by the numeral 13d. The cooler 134 condenses the heavy oils, which leave the cooler along the bottom line 136, while the lighter oil vapors and gases, which are not condensed,

leave via the overhead line 13S.

The heavy loii passes from the line 135 into the line' 150 and is movedby the pump 152 into transport line 154 as has been described with reference to FIGURE 1.. The upwardly flowing shale oil lifts the balls entering the transport zone or line 154 to the top of the line; however, because the temperature of the balls leaving the preheater and entering the line 154 is in the neighborhood of 500 to 600 F., little, if any, coking takes place in the transport line, and little, if any, vapors or gases are produced.' What coking vapors and gases are produced leave along the line 156. As the balls -and oil pass over the screening means 160 at the top of line 154i, the oil falls down readily through the screening means 160 into reservoir 164 and thence into line 162 and is thus separated from the balls. A level of Oil is maintained in line 64 to provide a gas seal while a packed bed of balls are maintained in `the enlarged portion or" line 154, thereby also providing a gas seal, in the same manner described with reference to FIGURE 1.

A discharge line 163 for the oil is provided. It may be desirable to recycle the oil via recycle line 16e, in

' which oase the valve 120 in line 166 is opened. The

can be used, as previously described (with reference to FIGURE l) to convey hot balls leaving the pyrolysis drum at a temperature of between 850 to 1050 F.

In ythe FIGURE 2 embodiment, as well as the FIG- URE 1 embodiment, the hydraulic oil used can be an oil other than shaleY oil, although the shale oil is preferred.

Modiiication of the FIGURE 2 embodiment to employ other oils is provided in the manner described with reference to the FIGURE 1 embodiment. In thecase of `the embodiment of FIGURE 2, in which the temperature of the transported balls preferably does not exceed 600 F., and may be considerably less, it is possible to use hightemperature heat-treating oils which are only slightly affected by such temperatures, such as: silicone base oils made by Dow ChemioalACompany, Military 7808 Turbine Oil (di-2-ethylhexylsebacate) or poly It will be noted, on both'the FIGURE l and FIGURE 2 embodiments, that the placement of the ball heater, the pyrolysis zone, and the preheater zone is such that the balls flow by gravity throughout most vof the various process steps, and only one ball elevator transport line 54 or 15d is necessary in either embodiment.

As in the FIGURE l embodiment, means for controlling the level of the various solid inlet and outlet streams to and from the pyrolysis drum 10o are employed (not shown), the purpose of which is to gas-seal the Y pyrolysis drum 106 except for vapor outlet line 132.

It will thus be seen that in both embodiments, we have `shown a pyrolysis system for oil-bearing materials comprising a preheater zone, a pyrolysis zone, and a solid heat-carrying body heating Zone, and a method and means for transporting these ysolid bodies between various points in the pyrolysis system in a novel and improved manner.

A `specific exampleof .the FIGUREl embodiment and of the FIGURE 2 embodiment are set forth below.

Referring tirst to the FIGURE 1 embodiment, one ton ofA Colorado oil shale, coarsely ground to an Aaverage mesh size of 3A, enters the shale preheaterV 12 along with 1.5 tons of 1/2jaluminalballs. The balls have a temperature of about 925 F. The shale and balls are intimately admixed in lthe shaleV preheater drum 12, the shale being raised to a temperature ot approximately 500 F. and the balls being cooled to a temperature of about 550 F.

The 550 F. balls are sent to the heater 2d where they arereheated to a temperature of about 1300 F. The 1300 F. balls, together with the 500 F. oil shale, enter the pyrolysisdrum via the lines 30 and 24, respectively. The pyrolysis takes place at a temperature of about 850 F. and oil vapors are evolved via line 32 at this temperature.

T\venty-iive gallons of oil vapors are evolvedper ton of oil shale pyrolyzed, and some of these vapors are condensed in cooler 34 maintained iat about 650 F. Five to ten gallons of heavy oil are sent out of bottoms line 36, while the remainder is not condensed and leaves, as a gas or vapor, via the overhead line 33.

The balls and'shale coke, at 950 F. and 850 F., respectively, leaving the line were separated by screening means KIZ, the balls continuing along the inclined line d0 until they reach transport pipeline 54. The 950 F. balls are then carried upwardly in line 54 by the 650 F. oil, which is moved upwardly by means of 'the oil pump 52.

VA small amount or vapor and gas is evolved from line 56 as a result of the colting taking place in line 54. The remaining-oil and balls. pass along screen 60 whereby the liquid oilI is separated from the balls, the balls continuing along to the shale preheater 12 at a temperature of about 925 F. The coked liquid oil enters the line 62, and passes on intorthe line 64 for recycling to lift additional balls in line 54, or vis taken directly from the system via line 68. n

Heat for the reheating'of the balls from 550 F. to 1300` F. is accomplished b'y the burning of carbonaceous material of the shale eolie in the combustion zone 46. The products of combustion (both gases and entrained solids) have -a temperature of approximately 1400 to 1500 F.v and are carried upwardly to the ball heating zone 26 for transfer of their'rheat to the balls. Exhaust gases leave the ball heater 26 via line 92 at a temperature of about 600 F. y

Referring now to the FIGURE 2 embodiment, the ratio of the balls to oil shale is the same as described in the previous example. The temperatures of pyrolysis and of oil shale preheating are approximately the same Vas that described in the previous example.

:The ball heating processing is also similar to that described with reference to the FIGURE 1 embodiment, the balls being heated romabout 525 to 1300 F. in the ball heater. y

All other processing conditions are similar -to those described in the previous examplevexcept that the balls entering the conveyor line 154 from the line 11S have a temperature of about 550 F. since they come directlyrfrom the preheater 1.00.l

There is, therefore, substantially no coking of oil in the'conveyor line 154 and substantially all vapors issuing from line 156 are due to evaporation. These plus the oil passing out through line 168 plus the light oil vapors leaving along the line 13S represent substantially all thel oil yielded by pyrolysis kexcept yfor that which remains'as a lilm on the balls in the line 154 and is burned otf'in the ball heater 26. Y i

While several embodiments of our invention have been shown and described,-changes and modications may be made that liewithin the scope of this invention and are within the skill of those in the art. Therefore, we do not intend to be limited by the specic embodiments here shown and described 'but only by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A continuous cyclic process for producing oil from solid oil-bearing. material, which comprises: heating said oil-bearing material by means of hotter solid bodies to produce oil vapors and gases as an eluent; at least partially condensing said oil vapors; forming a moving stream of said condensed oil; .and recycling said solid bodies, at least part of their travel being upward in said moving stream of oil, for their reheating and for admixture of additional oil-bearing material said moving stream of oil carrying said solid bodies during their upward travel in said moving stream.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein said solid bodies, being recycled in said moving stream of oil, havea temperature of between about 500 and 1050 F.

3. The process of claim l wherein said oil-bearing material is selected from the group consisting of oil shale and tar sands.

4. A continuous cyclic process for producing oil from solid oil-bearing material which comprises: pyrolyzing said oil-bearing material by admixing said oil-bearing material with hotter solid bodies, to thereby produce an eiliuent oil vapor and gas stream, and a solids outlet stream consisting of said solid bodies and solids residue of said pyrolysis; condensing a portion of said effluent oil vapor and gas stream; forming an upwardly moving stream of condensed oil; separating said solid bodies from said, solids outlet stream; passing said solid bodies into said upwardly moving stream of condensed oil; conveying said solid bodies in and by said moving stream of `oil for a portion of its travel, to a ball heating zone; and

heating said solid bodies for pyrolysis of -additional oilterial is oil shale.

8. The process of claim 4 wherein said effluent oil vapor and gas stream is rst cooled to a temperature of between about 500 F. to A,750" F. to form said moving stream of condensed oil.

9. The process of claim'4 wherein said solid bodies have a temperature of between about 850 to 1050 F. and said condensed oil is coked by contact with said hot solid bodies.

' 10. A continuous cyclic process for producing oil from oil-bearing material, which comprises: pyrolyzing said oil-bearing material by admixing said oil-bearing material with hotter solid bodies tothereby produce an eflluent oil vapor Iand gas stream, and a solids outlet stream consisting of said solid bodies and solids residue of said pyrolysis; condensing a portion of said efduent oil vapor l@ have a temperature" of between about 500 to 650 F. in their upward movement in said stream of condensed oil.

14. The process of claim l0 wherein said solid bodies have a temperature suiciently low to prevent any appreciable coking of said stream of condensed oil, while said bodies are being moved upwardly in said stream of condensed oil.

15. A unitary plant for producing oil from solid oilbearing carbon-containing material in a continuous cyclic manner, which plant comprises: a pyrolysis system having separate inlet means for said oil-bearing material and for heat-carrier solid bodies, and outlet means for oil vapors and gases, and for said solid bodies and solid products of pyrolysis; cooler means for at least partially condensing oil from said oil vapors and gases; means for separating said solid bodies from said solid products of pyrolysis; means for pumping said condensed oil upwardly in a transport zone; means for transferring by gravity said solid bodies to said transport zone for upward movement with and by said oil; means at the upper end of said transport zone for removing oil from said transport zone and from said heat-carrying bodies; means for conveying said solid bodies after removal of said oil, to a solid bodyheating zone; means for heating said solid bodies in said heating zone; and means for returning said reheated solid bodies to said pyrolysis system.

16. A unitary plant for producing oil from oil-bearing solid carbon-containing material in a continuous cyclic manner, which plant comprises: a rotatable pyrolysis drum having separate inlet means for said oil-bearing material and for heat-carrier solid bodies, and outlet means for oil vapors and gases, and for said solid bodies and solid products of pyrolysis; cooler means for at least partially condensing oil from said oil vapors and gases; means for separating said solid bodies from said solid products of pyrolysis; means for pumping said condensed oil upwardly in a transport zone; means for transferring by gravity said solid bodies from said pyrolysis drum to,

said transport zone for upward movement with and by said oil; means at the upper end of said transport zone for removing said oil from said transport zone and from said Y heat-carrying bodies; means for conveying said solid and gas stream; forming an upwardly moving stream of Y 11. The process of claim 10 wherein said oil-bearing A material is oil shale.

12. The process of claim 10 wherein said etiluent oil vapor and gas stream is rst cooled to a temperature of between about 50G-750 F. to form said moving stream of condensed oil.

13. The process of claim 10 wherein said solid bodies bodies in said transport zone after removal of said oil, to a preheater for preheating said oil-bearing material; means for conveying said solid bodies from said preheater to a ball heating zone, means for conveying said pre-heated oil-bearing material to said pyrolysis drum inlet; means for heating said solid bodies in said heating zone; and means for returning said reheated bodies to said solid body pyrolysis drum inlet.

17. A unitary plant for producing oil from oil-bearing solid carbon-containing material in a continuous cyclic manner, which plant comprises: a rotatable pyrolysis drum having separate inlet means for said oil-bearing material and for heat-carrier solid bodies, and outlet means for oil vapors and gases, and for said solid bodies and solid products of pyrolysis; cooler meansfor at least partially condensing oil from said oil vapors and gases; means for separating said solid bodies from said solid products of pyrolysis; means for pumping said condensed oil upwardly in a transport zone; means for transporting by gravity said solid bodies from said pyrolysis drum to a preheater'for preheating additional oil-bearing material; means for conveying said preheated oil-bearing material to said pyrolysis drum inlet means; means for transferring said solid bodies from said preheater to said transport zone for upward movement with and by said oil; means at the upper end of said transport zone for removing said oil from said transport zone and from said heat-carrying bodies; means for conveying said solid bodies in said transport zone after removal of said oil to a solid body heating zone; means for heating said solid bodies in said heating zone; and means for returning said reheated solid bodies to said solid body pyrolysis drum inlet.

(References on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS Johansson May 13, 1947 Berg May 11, 1948 Huff Mar. 8, 1949 Kirkbride Apr. 3, 1951 Kalbach May 26, 1953 Findlay Aug. 3, 1954 McCurdy NoN/Q15, 1955 Schapiro et al. Oct. 30, 1956 Nicholson Aug. 19, 1958 Aspegren Feb. 3, 1959 Metrailer Sept. 8, 1959 Culbertson Nov. 14, 1961 Nevens Jan. 23, 1962 Culbertson et al. Feb. 6, 1962 y Nevens May 15, 1962 

1. A CONTINUOUS CYCLIC PROCESS FOR PRODUCING OIL FROM SOLID OIL-BEARING MATERIAL, WHICH COMPRISES: HEATING SAID OIL-BEARING MATERIAL BY MEANS OF HOTTER SOLID BODIES TO PRODUCE OIL VAPORS AND GASES AS AN ELFFLUENT; AT LEAST PARTIALLY CONDENSING SAID OIL VAPORS; FORMING A MOVING STREAM OF SAID CONDENSED OIL; AND RECYCLING SAID SOLID BODIES, AT LEAST PART OF THEIR TRAVEL BEING UPWARD IN SAID MOVING STREAM OF OIL, FOR THEIR REHEATING AND FOR ADMIXTUE OF ADDITIONAL OIL-BEARING MATERIAL SAID MOVING STREAM OF OIL CARRYING SAID SOLID BODIES DURING THEIR UPWARD TRAVEL IN SAID MOVING STREAM. 